Riverside Hospital Foundation . . .

fostering access to quality healthcare in Northeast Florida.

About the Foundation

When Riverside Hospital first opened in 1911 as Rogers Hospital, there were only two other hospitals in Jacksonville: St. Luke’s and Duval Medical Center, now Shand’s/UF Jacksonville. The hospital was founded by physician Carey Rogers. Five years after it was founded, it was sold to three Jacksonville physicians-Edward Jelks, Turner Carson, and Harry Peyton.

It was the first hospital in Florida to perform X-rays and electrocardiograms, or EKGs, and the first to require board certification of medical staff. Riverside also put in Jacksonville’s first approved suites in which a woman could go through all phases of labor, including delivery and post-delivery care.

Riverside’s physician-owners started one of the country’s first group medical practices, the Riverside Clinic, in 1921. Next to the hospital, the clinic served as the outpatient department of the hospital until 1958, when the hospital was chartered as a nonprofit entity, separating the two.

A six-story patient tower was finished in 1968, and the original hospital building was razed in 1982 to make way for a new wing.

The Hospital closed its doors in 1996. Throughout its 86 year existence Riverside was known for top quality patient care, its highly trained and experienced nursing staff, and its longtime affiliation with the Riverside Clinic.

When the hospital was sold in 1991, the proceeds became the corpus of the Riverside Hospital Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to supporting medically related organizations that can improve the quality of care in our community, much as Riverside Hospital did. As a legacy to Riverside Hospital, the Foundation has disbursed more than $9 million in grants to medically related non profits in Northeast Florida. With $11 million in assets, the Foundation plans to continue to support improved medical care in the region for years to come.